


Aftermath

by remythasavage



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Rockman X3 | Mega Man X3, could be platonic or romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24693790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remythasavage/pseuds/remythasavage
Summary: X and Zero have escaped from Sigma yet again, but this war in particular has taken a toll on X's heart. An interpretation of the ending of X3.
Relationships: X/Zero (Rockman)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 34





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote the bulk of this a few weeks ago when it felt like the world (where I live anyway) was falling apart. And I'm an unabashed hurt/comfort whore, so this was the strange result somehow.  
> I tried to include lines directly from the X3 epilogue/ending, but now with more love for X! Poor boy just needs a hug, but that's what Zero is here for.

Staring at the laboratory of Sigma's pawn, Doppler, X could only watch as the massive structure was consumed by flames and smoke. He could feel the heat carrying from the inferno to their lookout on a plateau, but X's body still felt strangely cold. It was a deep-seated chill that caused him to tremble and hug himself in a futile attempt to warm up.

Behind him, Zero stood even more silent, lost in thought and the exhaustion of their battle. If he noticed X shaking, he wasn't saying anything. 

Normally Zero's presence was a comfort to X, but even with him here, everything seemed so lonely. The entire world suddenly seemed barren and empty and threatening. They had just defeated their final enemy, the maverick forces were quelled once again, Sigma was crushed and gone (for how long this time?), shouldn't he feel something? Yes, there would be mourning for those lost, but X had restored hope for mankind and reploids alike. 

Yet he felt empty. 

It was a pervading numbness that he hadn't been able to acknowledge until now. They had been fighting so hard that there had been no time to process feelings. Everything happened so quickly, it had come as such a brutal shock. Now that it was over, the questions the Blue Bomber had been forcing down came up all at once. 

_Why must mankind and reploids fight? Why must reploids fight amongst each other? Were they all fated to fight for eternity? Why even go on, if this was all the future had in store...?_

"X."

He didn't hear Zero saying his name. It wasn't that it was too quiet, X's audio receptors were still in good condition despite a great deal of his helmet being damaged. He couldn't be shaken from his reverie. Zero stepped forward so he was side by side with his partner, not taking his eyes from the blaze.

"X."

A chunk of Zero's shoulder pad fell off of his cracked armor, making a thud in the dirt. X dully observed where Zero's shoulder was sparking, the Red Ripper looked far worse for wear than he did. Knowing Zero, he was concealing how much damage he truly had taken, always remaining stoic and impenetrable no matter what. 

Which left X to wonder, if all this had affected him as well? Did he hurt at all? Not in a physical sense, both reploids were used to the extreme combat after so many wars, and they would be repaired soon enough now. He stared at his partner, his closest friend, and he couldn't tell what Zero was feeling now. Zero was a warrior, through and through, he handled these struggles so much better than X. He never lost his cool, X thought, or felt scared of the future, or just...lost. 

Suddenly he was snapped back to reality - although he wasn't sure where had been just now -Zero gripped him by the shoulders and was facing him, worry darkening his features,

"....X?!"

"Ah?"

Zero sighed, "I asked if you're okay. You didn't answer, you scared me." fresh, red coolant was leaking down the side of his face, "I thought Sigma HAD gotten you for a moment there."

Sigma.

"Maybe he did." X replied bitterly. Perhaps that was why he was feeling so strange? So empty? His body was being slowly possessed and what little was left of him was being eaten away.

A split second of confusion flickered across Zero's face, but it was quickly replaced by annoyance, "Don't talk like that. We took Sigma down, we always will."

X pulled away from Zero's grasp in an uncharacteristically rough fashion, which definitely shocked the red reploid. X hugged himself tighter, his gaze brought back to the burning lab.

"How many times will we have to defeat him? How much...how much longer will we have to fight?" 

Zero let his friend's questions be carried away in the hot wind. He had no answer, and X knew this as well as he did. 

Zero hated feeling so helpless now, after everything they had conquered. He was watching the Blue Bomber break down in front of him. Zero knew that whatever emotions he experienced, X would always feel exponentially more. He knew he was being overcome by rage, sorrow, shock...because Zero was now feeling them too. 

"I...I thought we had a chance at peace this time. I thought Doppler had found the solution. Things were going so well." X's entire body began to shake, "I-I-I th-thought that you a-and I -"

The battered reploid collapsed to his knees, his eyes never leaving the lab smoldering in the distance. The tears welled up despite using the last of his strength to keep them down. X never liked to cry in front of Zero. Not so much that there was any embarrassment, the two of them had no such reservations anymore, but X knew that Zero wasn't capable of the same. It made him feel guilty, and right now he felt as if he could not physically handle any more guilt.

Two stray tears escaped anyway. Zero rushed in front of him and kneeled down, taking his shoulders once again,

"X! X! Hey-"

"I'm sorry Zero..." he finally looked down, avoiding the red warrior's eyes out of shame.

Zero gave a dismissive grunt, "Don't be sorry. Now come on-" he carefully grabbed X's arms, making sure not to touch any injuries, and lifted him back up, "The savior of the world doesn't belong on his knees."

"I didn't save anyone! I couldn't save Doppler, I couldn't stop any of this-!!"

"X..."

The blue reploid's hands flew to his face, "I just wanted the peace to last!! Why can't I make the fighting stop?! What did Dr. Light create me for if I can't stop destroying things?!" 

His voice had climbed to a frenzied yell. He was completely lost in his grief, hardly aware of Zero in front of him or everything burning down around them both. The loneliness overcame him, it was as if he were shouting at himself, throwing his endless questions and curses to the wind.

But Zero was still very much there, his heart breaking to see his best friend like this. They should be celebrating their victory, this felt like anything but. 

Zero had never been anywhere near as emotionally capable as X was. He always felt out of place having to provide words of comfort, or any comfort at that. Whether it was a shaken rookie in his unit or a civilian being told of a loved one's death, he simply felt useless and completely lost. 

But with X, it seemed to come to him naturally, he knew exactly what X needed. Zero still wasn't sure where that intuition came from. Perhaps after spending so much time with him he had picked up a skill or two.

Or perhaps it was just because he knew his best friend better than anyone. Either way, Zero simply knew right now that he wanted X to feel better. 

The red reploid's hands snaked from X's arms around to his back and his helmet, guiding his head into his less damaged shoulder, and held him tightly. X could no longer hold back everything that had been building in him since the first battle. He shattered in Zero's arms.

"I t-thought it was o-over....I t-thought - we - we - we....how c-could this h-happen again..." X went between repeating the same painful questions and sobbing so loud his voice box glitched. Zero wished so badly he knew what to say, that for once he could be good with words, but he wasn't. He simply rubbed his back, just as a gentle reminder that he was there with X. X desperately clung on to his friend, as if he were afraid Zero would vanish from his grasp if he didn't hold on tight enough.

They remained there for a long time, not that either was keeping track. The fire began to die down, leaving no more light save for the very last of the sunset that dipped below the barren valley. There was no longer any heat carrying over to the plateau, but X began to feel a new warmth growing in his weary body. It suddenly made him aware of all the damage he had taken in the constant stream of battle, but he felt strangely better, like a little of the heaviness weighing him down was now gone. 

Sensing a pause in X's tears, Zero pulled away just enough so he could look the blue reploid in the face. A few stray tears were still pooling on the corners, blurring the brilliant green eyes the red reploid always found so much strength in. Zero hoped what he had was enough to begin to restore it. He gently wiped away the remaining tears.

X gave a watery smile, his face barely visible in the last moments of dusk.

"Thank you, Zero. I didn't mean to make this more difficult..."

"You haven't." Zero summoned the strength from somewhere to try and smile back. It hardly worked, but X noticed it all the same, "No matter how many times Sigma comes back, I'll be there with you." 

X just nodded and smiled, wrapping his arms back around Zero with silent affirmation. There were still so many questions, the future still uncertain, and a long recovery ahead, but X had been reminded that he wasn't alone. 

"You ready to finally get out of here?" Zero asked softly into his audio receptor. 

X smiled, looking only at Zero's face, the ruins of the lab and everything that had happened suddenly seeming far away, "Let's go home."

Using the last of their energy reserves they teleported back to Abel City together, hand in hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, he'll always be with you, X. :')  
> *sad X5 noises play in the distance*  
> But they don't know that yet so just let them be happy bois for now.


End file.
